Hi all, thanks for having a look at my own corner of the blogosphere. This blog will serve as a photo record of all my miniature painting projects. I hope you enjoy :)

Thursday, 26 February 2015

Xuron Professional Plastic Sprue Cutters - short review

I recently set out to buy a new pair of plastic clippers for removing components from a sprue.

I
decided to look around on the internet to see what other model makers
were using, and came across some glowing reviews for the Xuron
Professional Sprue Cutters product. A local online retailer, hobbytools.com.au
sold them for around $30, and they looked like they checked the boxes I
was after – the clippers use a shearing action and the blades tapered
to a fine point. The end blades are slightly bent to allow access to all
parts of the sprue, and they looked large and sturdy. I figured I’d
give them a go and ordered a set.

Having
used them now on one project, I can say that the many glowing online
reviews of this product are entirely correct. These things are amazing.

The
build is very good, with lightweight but strong metal covered by nice
rubber handles. I like the size of them, which is large enough to fill
your hand so you feel as if you have complete control – many clippers by
gaming companies tend to have much smaller designs. The spring-back is
gentle, it’s just enough to give you a nice release from the closed
position without the sheers flying back when you release the pressure.
The blades are very sharp and taper to a very fine point, meaning you
can do precision cutting on minute and delicate components. The blades
are also slightly offset, so that they use a shearing action to cut
rather than pressure. This gives a cleaner cut requiring less force, and
also means components don’t go flying off the sprue to land
who-knows-where.

The
Xuron Professional Sprue Cutters are an excellent product, well worth
the money. I can completely recommend them. You can find them for sale
in Australia here, or you can use Amazon here.